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Evaluating the Effectiveness of Your Homeland Security Communications
How to put together a research and evaluation system that measures the success of your efforts.

by Katharine Delahaye Paine

Summary: The purpose and design of a communications dashboard is discussed, and a step-by-step procedure is given for determining the effectiveness of communication of Homeland Security messages.

Introduction:
How will you know if your Homeland Security messages are getting through?

In the wake of September 11th, Public Safety Departments, State Offices and other governmental agencies are working (and spending) feverishly to develop and communicate their Homeland Security plans. At some point, all of these plans need to be evaluated, because if you don’t have an evaluation system in place, you won’t know if people are hearing and understanding what you have to say. In this context, evaluating your communications’ effectiveness takes on a new urgency—for Homeland Security, it’s not just your budget or your job that’s on the line, it’s people’s lives.

To that end, we’ve developed these guidelines to help public information officers, public affairs directors and others involved in communicating Homeland Security measure the success of their efforts.

“Homeland Security.” Seldom has a single phrase gotten to be a buzzword in such a short period of time. Even Y2K had a few years to reach its ultimate pervasiveness. As with Y2K and the census, millions will be spent educating the public and communicating with constituencies about the issues and their solutions. The effectiveness of communications concerning Y2K and the census were ultimately measured in very concrete terms: “How many people complied with the census?” and “How many people became Y2K compliant?”

In the case of Homeland Security, measuring the effectiveness of the various safety-related messages involved is difficult, but not impossible. As with all measurement programs, the key is measuring results as you go along, rather than at the end, so that you can make adjustments along the way that will ensure your success.

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